


Two Faces of a Coin

by Clarounette



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-17
Updated: 2012-02-17
Packaged: 2017-10-31 08:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/341861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clarounette/pseuds/Clarounette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during WWII. Michael and James' relationship is doomed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Faces of a Coin

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Fassavoy Fortnightly 2 on LJ.

"James, we can work it out!"

Michael's accent always made him smile. His English was perfect, but there was always a hint of German behind his carefully pronounced words. If his uniform wasn't a big giveaway, the accent itself would have been a sure sign that he wasn't British.

But in the France's Free Zone, it didn't matter. It was a haven, the only place in the world where they could meet without the fear of being caught. For now.

Soon, the German Army will invade this little place of freedom. That was why Michael had asked for James to meet him in this cafe. The German officer has crossed the border, the Demarcation Line, once again, thanks to his high rank in the military administration, to see James – the little English soldier, somehow stuck in France, waiting for the British Army to free the country. They met frequently the past nine months, and everything seemed perfect as it was. But in a week or so, James was going to be arrested, tortured, deported – he didn't know – if the German Army found him in the Zone. Michael didn't want that, of course, but he didn't want to never see James again either. It was hopeless.

James was looking in his coffee, moving the spoon around. He didn't want to leave. But what choice did he have? "What do you offer?"

"Maybe you could wear a German uniform. I would take you to my regiment and make you my lieutenant."

"I don't speak German, Michael. I'd be caught in no time."

"Nobody can hide you around here?"

James looked briefly at Michael's face, to see if he was serious. "I don't want to risk anybody's life. You should know that."

Michael took the younger man's hand in his. "Please, James." He was pleading. Not to James, who couldn't do anything, but to any god that would hear his prayer. War was already awful; he couldn't loose what little hope for a better world he still had.

James took back his hand, putting both hands in his lap, looking at them. His eyes were shining with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, Michael. Goodbye." He snatched his hat and left the café.

Michael didn't move for a long time, dealing with what happened. He would never see again the beautiful British soldier who stole his heart.

Something in him broke. A hardness that was never there appeared in his eyes. He put back his cap on his head and left a handful of money on the table before leaving in haste.

They were never meant to be. They were like the two faces of the same coin: so close but, at the same time, they couldn't be together. Not in 1942. Not when one was a British soldier and the other one a SS commander.


End file.
